Day 281 - In Key West, FL
Day 281: Wednesday, February 1st: Yesterday as we were coming into the marina slip, the boat's bow thruster quit working properly. While that is not a totally debilitating failure, the bow thruster is an important tool in many berthing/un-berthing maneuvers. We got the name of a good service company, "Sea, Air, Land Technologies" (SALT) and called to get someone to help diagnose and fix the thruster.
Sadly, the earliest anyone could come look at it would be this afternoon after lunch.
So we decided to play tourist in Key West this morning. We started out by riding the Conch Train. This is a highly rated tourist trap, er, attraction, that takes you all over the city. We enjoyed it:
One of the first attractions the train driver (tour guide) pointed out was the "Key West Eagles." The lower Keys are a wildlife refuge, and it is against the law to harm any wild animal or bird. These chickens are wild descendents of those brought here by the early settlers and are, therefore protected. You see them all over the islands:
The tour takes you all over the island, highlighting the history and most notable places. Here is the original Customs House:
This is the memorial to Jose Marti, the early founding father of the settlement:
This huge and lovely mansion has been turned into an Inn:
This home is nicknamed the "octagon house":
This building was originally a hotel. The big arch was to allow horse-drawn carriages to pass under to allow disembarkation of passengers out of the sun or rain. The gingerbread is traditional in "old town" Key West:
Note the top (third) floor windows are behind the roof extension on this house. Such designs are called "eyebrow windows." This is the only three-story example of these windows on the island:
Here is a two-story version:
More gingerbread is on this corner house. This was called "ship's wheel" gingerbread. The owner was probably a seafaring man:
This picket fence caught our eye. The pineapple is a symbol of hospitality:
Key Lime pie "factories" are everywhere in Key West. This one was particularly cute, and the proprietor displaying his wares was priceless!
This "sponge man" is on display in front of a waterfront curio shop:
The "Waterfront Market" is a very nice, large grocery store with a Guy Harvey mural along the front. Took three frames to capture it:
This rather unique bank, now a Wachovia branch, was built in the late 1800s. The balcony is hand carved from mahogany and took five years to fabricate. Two oxen were needed to hoist it into place:
Some of the buildings resemble the New Orleans French Quarter designs:
We went back to the boat to have lunch and wait for the SALT technician to come check the bow thruster. Ruth decided to go shopping while I waited.
The technician came and did a few checks and decided we needed to haul the boat to check out the underwater portion of the drive. Bummer. A few calls to the yards in Marathon and Key West revealed no one could accommodate us for at least ten days. Double bummer.
Later we got a call from the service manager of SALT who had been talking to the tech support team of the thruster manufacturer (Vetus). They had some suggestions of things to try checking, so SALT was going to send another technician to us when we arrive back in Marathon on Friday. This was getting expensive.
To boost our spirits we walked down to Mallory Square to enjoy the "Sunset Celebration." This is a nightly celebration of sunset in Key West. Street performers, vendors of all kinds and all the tourists converge in this waterfront park to watch the sun set. Sometimes it is spectacular.
We arrived about an hour before sunset and the festivities were underway already. We watched these performers in some impressive balancing tricks. They have a new way to "stand on your head":
And they played "walk the ball." The guy is rolling the ball around the terrace with his feet whilst balancing the damsel on his shoulders:
Next we watched an escapist. He solicited helpers from the audience. The blonde was responsible for keeping his brow mopped. The big guys put him in a strait jacket and chained him up:
OK, he's all chained up now:
The big guys hoist him up and suspend him upside down:
The helper mops the brow one more time:
He starts easing out of the chains:
..and of course, the escapist escapes!
Of course, there was a tightrope walker..
As Ruth would say, it was a real hoot!
Oh, yes, here is the sunset we came to celebrate. Not quite what the Chamber of Commerce would be proud of:
All in all, it was a fun "celebration."
Position tonight: N24 33.708 W081 48.204
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